Flynn Palmer candidate in Gladstone to outline veterans policy

Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party has had a shaky start to its campaign in central Queensland after its candidate for Flynn, Steve Ensby, appeared to be lost during a campaign visit to Gladstone.

Mr Ensby was in the city hoping to speak to local veterans about his party's military pension policy but had first arranged to front the media outside the Gladstone RSL club building.

The only problem is Gladstone's RSL club does not actually have a building - its meetings are held at the Volunteer Marine Rescue facility near the marina.

Mr Ensby then confessed he had yet to even arrange a meeting with the club's president.

"Walk around and meet the people and here at the RSL club, if we have an opportunity later this evening we'll try and organise a meeting with the president of the RSL and explain the benefits of our package," he said.

Boom and bust

Meanwhile, other Flynn candidates have used a debate-style forum in Gladstone to discuss how they will respond to the city's 'boom and bust' economic cycle.

Business group Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited hosted the event.

Candidates were given five minutes each to pitch their vision then took questions from the floor.

LNP Member Ken O'Dowd says industry and government need to work together.

"As well as industry themselves, it's ... local government, state and federal," he said.

"No-one likes to see this boom and bust, I think we might be seeing that in Gladstone and we've seen it before in Gladstone and it still keeps happening but I guess it's a part of rapid industry growth and there are ways to iron it out and I think we're working together with those stakeholders now to try and lessen the impact."

"As we've experienced in Gladstone [there] is the red and green tape and of course we can make the announcements in relation to major industry and by the time various applications are made to local government and funding processing are put in place, the boom is ending when all the infrastructure is starting," he said.

"The difficulty we have, particularly in this town, is that by the time affordable housing and other social services have caught up with the boom it's too late because the boom has moved on."

Carbon tax

Mr Trevor was asked if he still stands by Labor's carbon tax, with the questioner saying it has caused "local businesses to close down".

However, Mr Trevor disagreed.

"In 2007, John Howard and Kevin Rudd announced an ETS, so both major political parties put a policy forward for an emissions trading scheme," he said.

"Now, major industry were aware that this was on the drawing board because 10 years earlier, John Howard had foreshadowed the possibility of an emissions trading scheme.

"So all major industry, including industries in Gladstone, had already been factoring for 10 years before 2007 into their risk assessments."

Mr O'Dowd says the tax is hurting industry.

"I have never seen a business happy about paying more tax, Chris, I've never seen one," he said.

"The tax is actually killing industries around Gladstone and it's killing small business ... we never had a choice, when it did come on the front we didn't like it, we still don't like it, it's wrecking businesses."